A House Divided

In Depression-era Australia, a gentleman painter from a wealthy family turns amateur sleuth when his uncle is murdered in this mystery series debut.

From the USA Today–bestselling author of The Woman in the Library

Rowland Sinclair doesn’t fit with his family. His conservative older brother, Wilfred, thinks he’s reckless, a black sheep; his aging mother thinks he’s her son who was killed in the war. Only his namesake Uncle Rowly, a kindred spirit, understands him—and now he’s been brutally murdered in his own home.

The police are literally clueless, and so Rowly takes it upon himself to crack the mystery of the murder. In order to root out the guilty party, he uses his wealth and family influence to infiltrate the upper echelons of both the old and the new guard, playing both against the middle in a desperate and risky attempt to find justice for his uncle. With his bohemian housemates—a poet, a painter, and a free-spirited sculptress—watching his back, Rowly unwittingly exposes a conspiracy that just might be his undoing.

The first novel in the Rowland Sinclair WII Mysteries introduces an amateur sleuth with wit, heart, and a knack for solving inscrutable crimes. This historical mystery by a USA Today–bestselling, award-winning author will appeal to fans of Rhys Bowen, Kerry Greenwood, and Jacqueline Winspear.

(Previously published as A Few Right Thinking Men)

Praise for A House Divided

“As series-launching novels go, this one is especially successful. . . . And Sinclair himself is a delight: wining us over completely and making us feel as though he’s an old friend.” —Booklist (starred review)

“While the vintage Down Under settings might make this debut, which was short-listed for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Best First Book, comparable to Kerry Greenwood’s Melbourne-based Phryne Fisher 1920s mysteries, Gentill works in historical events that add verisimilitude to her story. There are more political machinations going on here than Phryne could ever contemplate. . . . [Gentill’s] witty hero will delight traditional mystery buffs.” —Library Journal (starred review)</